One of Lakeland’s meeting places for artists and creative minds will close its doors in September due to financial reasons.
ART/ifact announced on Facebook on Friday that after seven years as a nonprofit that provided a shared space for artists to create and exhibit their work in Lakeland, the gallery will close its doors. The gallery’s last day will be September 23.
“I must confess that I have followed this announcement with horror and am at a loss for words to even begin to express it. It is with a heavy heart that I must share the difficult news of the closure of ART/ifact. After 7 years of serving our artists and our community, the building we are located in is being sold,” the August 16 post reads.
Elizabeth “Eli” Hults, director of ART/ifact, acknowledged to The Ledger that it is a “more nuanced problem with nuanced reasons.”
ART/ifact is located at 820 N. Massachusetts Ave., a building it has leased from the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency since 2016. The building was formerly used by the Salvation Army.
Valerie Farrell Vaught, CRA manager for Lakeland, said the property is not being sold, but ART/ifact is more than eight months behind on rent. Earlier this year, Vaught said, the CRA provided each of the CRA’s tenants with an appraisal to give them an idea of the value of each building and enable them to raise the necessary funds to purchase their space.
Hults said they concluded there had already been several offers to buy the building.
On July 9, Lakeland CRA sent a notice to Artifact Studios Inc. that it was delinquent in paying rent through March 2024 and had a past due amount of $10,667.40. It said the organization had failed to meet the terms of its lease by not having general liability insurance on the leased premises as required by the city.
The CRA gave ART/ifact Studios 10 days to raise the money and obtain insurance.
Hults said a partial payment of $5,000 was made on July 9. Hults, who uses “they”/”them” pronouns, said they did not expect what came next.
“We’ve been behind on payments before and it’s never been a problem,” Hults said. “We’ve always caught up eventually.”
On July 25, Lakeland CRA served ART/ifact with a formal notice to terminate the lease, which was due to run until May 2027.
“I understand the terms of the deal. In business, a landlord can crack down as hard as they want. If you want to evict someone, evict them. If you want a business to thrive, work with the person,” Hults said. “The decision to crack down as hard as they did is unfortunate and disappointing.”
Hults said they feel the termination of ART/ifact’s lease was in part a failure on their part and are concerned about the impact it will have on artists and the creative economy in Lakeland.
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The nonprofit arts organization was hit hard by the COVID pandemic, Hults said, with more than 50% of the gallery’s tenants leaving within three months.
“So many people depend on this space for their livelihood,” Hults said. “We were finally at a point where we could bring in additional revenue from events to get back up to speed and get a good reputation.”
ART/ifact currently has 19 tenants or artists in residence and an additional five coworking tenants. These people must find new offices and studios by mid-September.
Hults said they have never received any financial compensation for their work with ART/ifact. The nonprofit has no employees and relies on volunteers and the community.
“I’m not done yet,” Hults said. “I’m going to take a break to figure out what’s next. I believe in having my own arts facility.”
The nonprofit’s last public event in the building will be Chroma Fest on August 30 from 6 to 10 p.m. The event will include a fashion show, live performances and vendors. This is the second business on this block owned by the Lakeland CRA to close in recent months, following Yard on Mass. The CRA has put out a request for proposals and received two potential suitors. Its selection committee will review them before recommending to the City Commission which party to enter into negotiations with.
